


I used to know yellow

by Bowie



Series: We'll find each other [3]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, most of the players tagged are just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 07:52:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowie/pseuds/Bowie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where you see everything in black and white until you meet your soulmate, Erik meets Marco and can finally see colours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I used to know yellow

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank one of my best friends, who knows me since we were like 7 and who reads all my fanfics helping me fix my mistakes, thanks for putting up with me, for reading all my crazy fics, and letting me make you fall in love with durmeus (and that other football ship).
> 
> Any mistake is mine, feel free to point them out, I'm all ears. I played (a lot) with time lines and stuff to make this fic work, but at the end it's all fictional so I'm allowed to do what I please.
> 
> I'm sorry about the ending, happy is not my thing, but await for a non-durmeus (sorry) fic i'm working on, it's mostly a funny story and hopefully that one will have a happy ending (but i'm me so don't get your hopes up) Also I'll soon post a Durmeus that isn't a soulmate au, but it's way longer than this one, i still have a lot to read and then proof-read, so it might take a while.

Black, white and grey, those were the only colours he had known his entire life, his mother had told him the colour of the sky was blue, but he had never been able to tell the difference between blue and red and any other colour, it was a normal thing, most people went a big part of their lives not being able to see colours, just like him, only going trough the different shades between black and white, there were some unlucky people, like Van Gogh, as he learnt back at school, people who were born seeing colour, which meant they didn't have a soulmate, they were never going to meet _that_ one person, who was going to change their lives, and their way to see the world.

 

Knowing there was someone out there, waiting for _him_ , someone who was going to change his whole life forever, it was what kept him going, even when he was in a bad time. He never thought too much about how this person would be, he never got nervous about them not showing up, he was never eager to meet them, he always knew they would come around some time. Then his sister met a guy, and started seeing colour, and talked to him about how amazing it was, she had told him her favourite colour was green, the boy's eye colour, the first he had seen, and started talking about how amazing the sky was and told him every painting she saw now was simply beautiful and she could finally understand why some of these artist where so praised, and she could finally understand their art teacher. ("Tell miss Audrey I can finally see how amazing they are!" she had told him one day when she dropped him at school)

 

Her sister ended up marrying the guy when Erik was 20, still seeing black and white. His best friend had met his soulmate too. A girl, Jonas was so happy, the girl understood him, in a way no one had ever been able to, not even Erik. When he asked him about their relationship Jonas had smiled and told him they were just friends, she was aromantic, not really wanting a romantic relationship, Jonas was happier than ever when he found out, he not really wanting to settle in a romantic relationship with anyone, exclusivity wasn't really his thing, he liked to go around, having fun and not really having someone tying him down, they had some kind of platonic relationship.

 

Seeing how different the relationship her sister had with his soulmate and the relationship of Jonas with his where, Erik started wondering about his soulmate, was it going to be a boy or a girl? would it end up with him married, or in whatever Jonas and his soulmate had?

 

He got no answer until he was on his first training with Dortmund, he was 21, wondering how long his life was going to be like this. He played for a team, whose colour he couldn't recognise, was it green or red? where his pants blue? what colour was the grass? His sister had said green, but honestly it just looked grey, he had tried to imagine the colours, how they must look for those lucky enough to see them, but all he could picture was grey, grey and more of grey.

 

And then, as he was greeting his new team mates he touched a guy's hand "Good to meet you, Erik" the guy had said, and Erik could feel electricity coming from the guy's hand, and when he looked at his hand it seemed different, he looked at the grass, it wasn't grey any more, he could finally see, the green colour, and the jersey the guy in front of him (Marco Freaking Reus, a voice in his head screamed) it wasn't green, it looked nothing like the grass, it wasn't blue either, it was a colour he didn't really know. He took the jersey in his hand, admiring this new colour, he had no idea what it was called, but it was a pretty colour.

 

"What is this colour called?" he finally asked, looking at Marco's eyes, they looked green-ish, but they had other colour in it, another one he didn't know the name of.

 

"Mats told me our jerseys are yellow" Marco muttered "But he never said it was so pretty"

 

Getting to see colours was definitely life changing, he and Marco would simply comment on colours they found pretty, and quickly started to learn their names thanks to the people around them. Seeing the world in colours was amazing, he had never truly realized how pretty the world is. And he could finally understand what his sister meant about the paintings, they were amazing, Erik no longer thought that people like Van Gogh were unlucky, instead he was jealous of them, being able to enjoy how amazing colours were, for their whole lives. None of that mattered though, all those years wasted with black, white and grey, they were long gone, he had finally found Marco and he was sure they had plenty of time together.

 

They had taken their time meeting each other, neither of them telling their families about the other just yet, they went out on dates, after the excitement of seeing colour was overcome, they had instantly connected, but they had kept it friendly for a while, none of them feeling like they had to rush, they would have their whole life to enjoy each other, and the colour of everything. They played a lot of football, not only because it was their job, but because it was their true love, it was amazing finding something who could completely understand the love for the amazing sport, and the incredibly club they played for. They went to watch movies, and Marco took Erik to drink coffee to his favourite place, a nice coffee shop near Marco's house, the place was so cosy, and the people there didn't treat them like they were some kind of celebrity, most of them knowing Marco for a long time, before he became a world famous footballer, that coffee shop was Marco's secret place, where he went whenever he felt bad, needed to get himself away from the world, and he had shared it with Erik. They shared their first kiss there.

 

Erik took Marco to art museums quite often, he loved paintings, his favourite was _Starry Night Over the Rhone_. He actually loved every single one of Van Gogh's painting, but that one was his favourite, Erik couldn't explain why, he had no words to, but he didn't need to, Marco simply understood, no need of words. Marco loved painting too, but not for the same reason, it was because of how Erik's eyes looked when he was seeing one, how his amazing eyes would lighten up, he had never seen anyone look like that, Erik had a way to look at, not only paintings, but at him too, when he looked at him, he felt loved, leaving him breathless, but not really caring, no one had ever looking at him like that, it made his heart beat fast, and he swore every word that left Erik's mouth was like poetry.

 

They announced their relationship to their families when they had been officially dating for a month, they were all happy for them. Marco's sister had smiled at him, and told him it was about time his baby brother could be see colour. ("I'm so happy for you, I have never seen you this happy" she would say later, more serious, but with a smile on her lips any way)

 

The next time they were with their nt Mario was upset with Marco, but just because he had found his soulmate (a really handsome and funny soulmate) and hadn't told him. Marco made up for that, a year after, when he told Mario he was going to propose, before anyone else. Mario had screamed like a girl, and helped him plan how to ask.

 

Erik couldn't believe how lucky he was "YES, YES, YES" he had screamed, not caring where they were (Erik's favourite art museum) not like anyone would be upset about him screaming like that, people were watching them, but no one was angry about his screaming, everyone was smiling, some even cheering, a girl even snapped some pictures of the moment, and had promised to send them. She did, she sent them to Marco's twitter account.

 

Erik thought he would never be as happy as he was in that moment, when Marco had proposed, but then he was proved wrong during their wedding day, and later when both of their kid were born, he didn't have one day where he had been the most happy, he had four. It wasn't just those moments, of course, the days the girls who had carried their kids had told them they were pregnant were amazing days too, and two years after he had retired (four since Marco's retirement) when Marco had come home and told them the amazing news about him becoming Dortmund's new coach. The day he had played his last match for Dortmund was an amazing day, he would've never guessed the fans were going to be so accepting of his relationship with Marco, but they were, and more surprising for him (and no one else, really) was when he realized fans loved him that much, seeing them cheering for him, as he said goodbye to the club he loved, with a victory, having scored, against Schalke, at home, with all their fans showing him how much he meant to them, to the club, it was amazing, and breath taking.

 

One December they had a Christmas party with their friends. Marco had gone to get Agata, their oldest kid, who was at a friend's house, they were all having a nice time, adults on the living room, chatting, eating and drinking, the kids off on the backyard playing or upstairs, the oldest one, doing who-knows-what. Erik was laughing at some joke Per had said, when everything started to look different, he started watching around the room, desperate, this couldn't be real.

 

"Are you okay, Erik?" Mats, or maybe Benni had said but Erik couldn't answer.

 

He had heard about this happening but never thought about it happening to him, he had never met anyone close to him who been trough this, except for Marco's grandma, but it wasn't something they talked about, it couldn't be real. He started crying, he felt like his heart was being ripped away of his body, and he stared at their Christmas tree, it was grey, with a lot of decorations and lights, all of them a different shade of grey. His friends tried to console him, not sure about what was happening, Roman had him wrapped around his arms, trying to get him to calm down, say something.

 

"It's grey, everything is grey" was everything he managed to say, his voice weak, full of pain, he felt broken.

 

The car Marco and Agata where in had been hit by a drunk driver, Marco had died on the scene, his side of the car being the one hit by the other car with extreme strength, he didn't stand a chance. Agata was rushed to the hospital, where she was in critical condition, she was in a comma for a week before finally waking up. She was only fourteen, but was already an amazing footballer, a striker, with big dreams, she wanted to win the world cup, and everything she could with her beloved Dortmund, but all her dreams where crushed when the accident left her on a wheelchair, but that wasn't the worst thing she had lost because of the accident.

 

Erik was broken, he felt like he couldn't breath any more, he had cried so much he didn't had more tears on him to keep crying. It was better when Agata woke up, but seeing her, dreams gone, along with Marco. And little five years old Bruno holding onto him, not letting Erik out of sight, in fear of losing him too. Erik knew he had to keep going, for them.

 

The first time he saw Bruno playing for his beloved Dortmund, Erik had cried, out of happiness for one of his kids fulfilling one of their dreams, but also with sadness, Marco was supposed to be there watching Bruno with him, he had to be there for Agata too, who should've been playing for Dortmund, who was meant to win a world cup, and show the world the amazing talent she had. But Marco wasn't there, and Agata wasn't a world cup champion. But Bruno was there playing for Dortmund, wearing that beautiful jersey, with a yellow he once had been able to see, a yellow that despite not being able to see any more was still Erik's favourite colour, just the way Van Gogh was still his favourite painter, except now his favourite painting was _At Eternity's Gate_ , a painting he had finally been able to understand that terrible December.

 

"My jersey is yellow" Bruno said that night when he came home "Yellow is a pretty colour, I love it, why didn't you tell me?"

 

Erik simply smiled, understanding how his son felt, he has felt the same way all those years back, when he finally could see yellow.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](http://funsubstance.com/uploads/original/174/174384.jpg)


End file.
